Dictators

In this impressive book Will Storr investigates the phenomenon of why people believe what they believe. There’s a brilliant section on homeopathy, in which Storr makes you think about the people on both sides of the debate. He looks at something called Morgellons, which some people think is a medical condition, and some people don’t. Sufferers report an itchy rash, possibly caused by fibres, which can be utterly tormenting.

The Chancellor, George Osborne, is often described as an Old Etonian but he is visibly a product of his competitive private London day school, St Paul’s. He does not seem to share the Prime Minister’s Hugh Bonneville-style noblesse oblige. The difference between Osborne and Cameron, according to a quote in Janan Ganesh’s biography of the Chancellor, is that Cameron would never have boarded Oleg Deripaska’s yacht in Corfu.

Style guru Peter York defied the instructions of his image consultants by dressing as a dictator in a military suit with a sash and medals at this morning’s Editorial Intelligence awards at the Royal Institute of British Architects.

The entrance to BBC Broadcasting House has this week been the centre of controversy — possibly for the first time since Eric Gill’s statue of Ariel prompted questions in the Lords over the size of its genitals. This time the focus of attention is the proposed statue outside the building of George Orwell. Baroness Bakewell says she was informed by the outgoing director general, Mark Thompson, that Orwell was “too Left-wing a figure for the BBC to honour”.